wool

Well, this has been such a busy month! I will try and be as un-boring with my update as possible...which may be hard as the funnest parts of the last month have been little to do with wool.

I'm going to start by telling you about my HILARIOUS experience at the Fudge Kitchen in Bath. I bought a "FME"* for my sister, Jemma, as a birthday gift and oh. my. goodness. We had such a laugh! The costume worked a treat at getting us into character...

The guys at the Fudge Kitchen are seriously funny (maybe something to do with the copious amounts of sugar consumed every day - there was singing, dancing and fudge eating like there was no tomorrow) and they made us feel so welcome and involved so thank you Jack and Steve - we had a total blast!!!

*FME =Fudge Making Experience

On a Wool-y note I did a bit of decorating this month. The Keith (who makes all my units) made a Super Unit to fit in the mountain of Summer yarns. Doesn't it look fantastic? I really am running out of expansion room :-( I may need to kerb my spending ......maybe...!

Some of the new yarns include the fantastic British Breed yarns from Blacker Yarns in Launceton.

Mama of Wool and I drove down to their amazing mill in the centre of Cornwall for a private tour (Thanks so much Steve) and boy, did we have a fabulous day!!

As we arrived the first thing Steve did was to apologise for the smell- "Drains and wet-dog"apparently! Now, I am not ashamed to say I love the smell of wet-dog so I knew it was going to be my idea of heaven! And I was so right! The place was just a haven for any wool lover - PILES AND PILES of raw fleece, washed fleece, carded fleece, spun yarn, skeins, balls, bobbins...I literally didn't know what to look at first!

We saw the fleece as it arrives ...

and then followed the route all fleece travels to get to the yarn I sell...

Washed, carded

lightly twisted, worsted

this part was undoubtedly the most fascinating for me. This is how you get the sheen on a spin by pre-straightening all fibres before you spin. These barrels were ful of fleece that was ready for spinning. The pictures don't do it justice. It was a Bluefaced Leicester and it was like touching clouds!

Spun onto cones and then put onto balls by Susie!

And then bought by ME!!!

What an amazing day! Steve, you really looked after us so thanks a million!

The list of new beauties for Spring is vast so I will keep it to a bare minimum...

Bluefaced.com have come up with the most exquisite yarn of the year (in my humble opinion)

Silk/cashmere lace and silk/Baby camel lace.

there are no words...

multi coloured cotton from Adriafil, "poema", which knits to a beautiful Dk

Rico's cotton aran. You want choice of colour? You want great value? here you go...

Bergere de France's "Cherie". I have just finished knitting a beautiful and very simple jacket in this silk/ linen/acrylic blend...

Jacket pic to follow

We are also stocking #8 Crochet Cotton in many colours, as well as the 1mm crochet hook you'll need for the tiny tiny work!

Not enough hours in the day, eh??

On another note I would like to say a big thank you to Isla for making Toby such a beautiful Bandana and also his wonderful gift of a ball-chucker! He loves both! I will take a pic of him in his funky threads this weekend!

A very special mention has to go to my OH, Dan and my lovely friend Karen, both of whom ran the Bath Half on Sunday. You are both utterly bonkers and I am super proud of you both! Karen has raised a whopping amount of dosh for Dorothy House- and she's still collecting if you'd like to donate!

Toby and I were there to cheer on the crazies in the March heat - and Tobes wore his beautiful T-Shirt in support!

Doesn't he look gorgeous!!!

For those who remember the unfinished Christmas Jumper for my poor old Dad……

Here it is!! He’s delighted (phew!) and it FITS!!(double phew!!)

I know I say it every time but I'll try not to leave the blog so long next time!

Don't forget the clocks go forward this month so enjoy the lighter nights - more natural light for knitting - Yay!

Love

Laura x

To quote my sister "'Tis the season..." seems like a long time ago so I ought really to update you with what's gone on in the last month or so...

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year! Hope Santa was extremely generous (he was in our house!!) and you had some well earned rest?

I ended up committing the cardinal knitting sin - the unfinished Christmas Jumper Gift! Oh Dear! My poor old Dad - he opened a parcel that FELT like a complete jumper but was, in fact, a front, a back, a collar and half a sleeve! Do you know the worst thing...it's still not sewn up! I am the world's worst daughter. It's official!

That's just embarrassing!

I would like to lay the blame squarely on one person...

His name is Toby and he is my new love...

A big thank you to the lovely folks at Bath Cats and Dogs Home (www.bcdh.co.uk) for letting this  wonderful chap become part of our family!!

He's far too cute for me to ignore at night

so knitting time has been replaced (temporarily) by Toby-time, hence the unfinished jumper.

We celebrated my little Sis' birthday at the beginning of the month too - she is 21 again and looking as gorgeous as ever. We had a super meal out at The Chequers (no Johnny or John, unfortunately! )with Emma the Puggle and Toby. The hounds were well behaved, the meal was superb and the wine was pretty delish too, so all in all it was a great night.

My gift to Jem was a "Fudge Making Experience" at the Fudge Kitchen by the Abbey in Bath.  She's been sweet enough to invite me along (YESSSSSS!!) so we are going to be in a suger coma in the very near future!! Ridiculous pics to follow!

In terms of the shop things are back to normal after the craziness that was Christmas. We are in the process of making room for the stunning new Spring/Summer yarns that are trickling in the door. With that in mind we have a Sale…

There are simply loads and loads of beautiful yarns at 40% and 50% off. Everything from Noro to King Cole. Come in and have a rummage – onceit’s gone it’s gone!

New yarns, especially the Summery ones, are coming in thick and fast.

Liesl by Rico.

An acrylic yarn which feels and knits like a linen blend. It’s a super-chunky, so don’t pack away those 10mm needles just yet! I feel a perfect Spring scarf coming…

Fyberspates new Ysolda Teague colours.

Now, everybody knows I’m a bit gaga over Fyberspates, but even the stoniest of hearts will melt at these incredible additions to the 4ply and lace weight range. With names like “Dandelion and Burdock” and “Wine Gum” you know you’re onto a winner!

From Rowan we have the new “Creative Linen” ; a skeined linen/cotton blend that feels a. ma. Zing! Here’s a small sample of the colours available…

yumm!

And for those who have been wondering where all our knitting bags have been- Here they are!

Karen’s been sewing up a storm! Those who know her fabulous knitting bags and needle rolls will be excited to see some new colours and designs…

Adriafil’s felting yarn “Crea” is here…

Oh the possibilities!!!

I am supposed to be living off my yarn stash for the forseeable future – the yarn cupboard door has started to open of its own accord! Clearly under immense pressure – whoops! So I shall just vicariously enjoy all your future purchases, and maybe I’ll stick to one of my New Year’s Ressies! The others are losing their attraction fast! It’s not possible to drink THAT much water!! And Kate agrees with me…

Don’t you Kate?

See you soon for some bargains  x x